Bam on boxing: Alekseev, Rosado, More!

One Shot, or is it? Why does it feel like the end of the world when a fighter you want to see win, loses. It’s not like watching your favorite sports team where, after a loss, ‘there’s always next time’. For fighters, there almost is never ‘next time’.

Last Saturday evening, South Philadelphia cruiserweight Garrett Wilson boxed Alexander Alekseev, of Uzbekistan, in Galati, Romania, for the No. 1 spot in the IBF world ratings.

Wilson showed what he was capable of doing, but only in spurts. He would bob-and-weave his way inside, but not often enough. Alekseev fought a smarter fight. I could make excuses as to why things went the way they did, but why should I? I could tell you that fighters are not the same when they go overseas–they tense up, they get nervous, they cannot get comfortable. I am not sure what happened to Wilson but he lost to a fighter with better technical skills.

Wilson has to accept the result and move forward.

The Wilson-Alekseev bout reminded me of two world title bouts within the last year that featured fighters from the Peltz Boxing-stable. On Jan. 19, 2013, junior middleweight Gabriel Rosado (left) took a huge risk and moved up to the middleweight division to face WBA champion Gennady Golovkin at Madison Square Garden. Seven months earlier, welterweight Mike Jones fought Randall Bailey for the vacant IBF welterweight world title in Las Vegas, NV, on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley card. Neither fighter walked away with a win, but both walked away with a new attitude.

Rosado not only showed the energy but also the heart and desire he needed to win that matchup. He went into the fight as an underdog but he made the fight entertaining. Rosado will move back down in weight to finish what he started. It takes a special fighter to get the opportunity to fight for a world title and walk away from it knowing he did his best. Rosado’s energy is exactly what promoters and networks are looking for. He made people want more of him and he has learned the importance of staying active.

Rosado is on Peltz’ radar for another fight before June.

Jones, a talented fighter, was exposed against Bailey. He worked the jab, stayed on the outside and he boxed all night without getting gassed. He was considered to be more entertaining when he turned pro and he scored 19 knockouts in his 26 wins. However, things changed within the last two years and Jones became a safety-first fighter. He is just as talented today as he was before the Bailey fight. He nearly pitched a shutout that night before getting nailed in the waning seconds of the 11th round. Fighters get exposed all the time; it does not end their careers so long as they adapt and make changes to better themselves. Jones has the ability to adapt. Hopefully, we will see him back in the ring soon because a long layoff does no fighter any good.
All three of these fighters can get back to the mega fights if they want it badly enough. It is all about mental toughness and how much they are willing to do to get there.